Gibbs scored two rushing touchdowns and passed for a third while senior running back Tariq Davis scored once and rushed for 149 yards on 14 carries, including a 68-yard gallop to set up one of six Hurricane touchdowns in the season opener for both teams.

“We thought they would run more to the outside,” Croatan coach Dave Perry said. “Instead, they kept it up the middle. We’ll learn from it and try to improve on next time.”

Croatan actually led 7-6 when quarterback Andrew Colburn kept the ball and raced for the score, tying the game at 6-6 before the point after kick gave Croatan its only lead o

It was Croatan’s only score until late in the fourth quarter when Colburn connected with Justin Locklear on a 16-yard pass play to make it 38-13.

Down 7-6, the Hurricanes pulled away by scoring twice with less than 1:20 to play in the second quarter when Gibbs threw a 45-yard touchdown pass to Cameron Moore.

The Pamlico defense then recovered a Croatan fumble on the next series, setting up an 18-yard scoring run by Davis with 29 seconds left in the half.

The Hurricanes added to their lead on their second possession in the third quarter they scored again as Gibbs ran it in from one yard to cap a drive that was set up by a 68-yard run by Davis.

The touchdown increased Pamlico’s lead to 32-7.

“We worked hard all preseason and had an OK practice week leading up to tonight,” Pamlico first-year coach Kevin Yost said. “I’m proud of the guys. All I want is for them to work hard. For them to get rewarded with a win tonight makes me very happy. But we need to still work on special teams. We were ugly, sloppy, ugly with missed snaps and three failed extra point attempts.”

Davis, though, knows this was a big win.

“Last year they (Croatan) came up to play us and beat us 26-0,” he said. “Now we’re here tonight and we got the win.”